Spirit 2: Cloud's story
by butterflygirl386
Summary: Spirit's escape from the army was just the beginning.  Now, ranchers are staking out land and rounding up the mustangs out of it.  Will Cloud be able to rescue her family from the unknown fate of the ranchers?  This is my first fan fic. plz read & review
1. A New Threat

"_You've all heard the story of my father, The Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken, leader of the Cimarron herd. Now it is my turn. Of course, this isn't my story alone. It's a continuation of my father's, belonging to those who helped both of us, as well as belonging to me. Things had become peaceful once more after my father's battle for freedom. In fact, the herd hadn't even seen another human in the two years since it happened. But we were all about to find out that was a false sense of security…"_

It was spring once more, and the plains were covered in an emerald carpet dotted with wild flowers of every color. The sky was blue and clear, and the birds sang out their love songs for the whole world to hear. A yearling filly ran to the top of a nearby hill, gazing off at the majestic mountains in the distance. She was a dun paint with a blaze, four high socks, and white patches across her withers and over her hips.

"Cloud," a voice called from behind her. She turned to see a chestnut paint mare with a flaxen mane and tail trot to the base of the hill. "Don't go too far. We'll be grazing by the creek when you get back."

"Alright," Cloud whinnied back. "I'll see you later Mom!" She reared up and took off down the opposite side of the hill.

"_Yep, that's me. Expecting a colt? Well, so was my dad. He had hoped that I could one day follow in his foot steps and become the leader of the Cimarron herd, like he had done for his father. But my mom reminded him that it takes more than a stallion to lead a herd, and that I could become a lead mare like my grandmother, Esperanza._ _He took to the idea, and so did I. Someday, I will be the greatest lead mare the Cimarron has ever seen!"_

Cloud galloped across the plains, enjoying the sweet, spring breeze blowing in her face. She was very much her father's daughter, always taking off to enjoy the nature around her, although she didn't get into as much trouble as he did when he was young. She whipped around, chasing sparrows and leaping over fallen trees, until something caught her attention. A little ways across the field, something was blocking her way and spanned the entire plain. She cautiously trotted up to it, her nostrils flared, trying to catch a scent of the intruding object. As she drew closer, she could tell it was made up of small logs standing upright in the ground with a thorny vine made out of a strange material strung between the logs. She didn't know how it got there, but as she looked around she noticed it was blocking their way to one of their major grazing sites. _I've got to tell my dad,_ Cloud thought. _He'll know what to do._

She turned and galloped all the way back. As she grew near, she thought she could hear cries for help. She quickly climbed the nearest hill and was taken aback at what she saw. What she figured to be humans, going by the description her parents had told her of them, riding other horses were circling the herd and driving them away. She could see Spirit trying to fight off the intruding ranchers, but the scared herd was still being chased in their intended direction. Cloud hesitated for a moment, wanting to go down with her family, but not wanting to be near the humans. She decided to go with the former, and took off down that hill.

Spirit glanced up and saw his daughter running towards them. "Stop!" he called to her. "Don't come down here!"

Cloud skidded to a stop. "Daddy!" she cried. "What's going on?"

"I don't want you to be captured as well," the stallion continued. "Hurry and leave before they see you!"

"But I can't just leave you!" exclaimed the yearling, backing up a couple of steps, wanting to obey her father's orders but not wanting to leave.

Some of the ranchers circled around Spirit, driving him back toward the rest of the herd. "Go get help," Spirit called. "Go find Little Creek!"

Cloud nodded and with tear-filled eyes turned and ran back the way she had come, but not before a couple of the ranchers had noticed her.


	2. The Chase

_"I had heard the story of the boy, Little Creek, innumerable times from my parents, and had long since memorized the directions they had given me of where his village was located. But I had never traveled that far on my own before, not to mention in a desperate situation like this. I could feel the heavy pounding of my heart as I ran, praying that I would be able to get help in time to free my captive herd mates."_

Cloud galloped through the deserted plains as fast as her legs would carry her, for once not marveling at the extent of it's simple beauty. Rocks and trees whisked by without a second glance from her. As she ran, her ear twitched, swiveling backwards to detect an upcoming noise. After listening a bit closer, she established the noise to be another set off hoof beats, now a second, and a third! She dreadingly glanced back and found that three of the ranchers where pursuing her on horseback. She felt her stomach sink as if she had swallowed a rock, and her mind began to race, flashing question after question before her. What was she going to do? How was she going to lose them? What if she got caught?

She was quickly snapped from her thoughts as she found herself running straight into one of the newly built fences. Cloud slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop just before she made contact with the barbed wire. She swiftly pivoted on her haunches and took off along the fence. She glanced back again and noted that that maneuver had cost her precious ground between herself and the fast- approaching ranchers. _There's got to be something I can do,_ she thought earnestly. _I can't just keep following this line of logs all the way down. I'll end up getting lost. There's got to be some way over it. _With that, she made a quick turn and headed back in the direction she had come, but altered her course to a large rock formation in the middle of the plains. To her dismay, the ranchers cut the corner and now were practically on her tail.

Cloud neared the tall, rocky mound and made a sharp turn around it, planning on getting a little more distance in front of the ranchers and a straight shot at jumping the intruding fence. But that didn't quite work out as she planned. When she was halfway around the rock, she ran right into one of the ranchers. He had gone around the opposite side of the formation to cut her off. She stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes, then back at the other two ranchers who were coming up behind her, and finally up at the rock formation. Without another thought, she leapt up onto the rock, ascending it like a mountain goat. She reached the peak, then jumped off the opposite side. The ranchers watched her for a moment, baffled at what they had just seen, then took off after her again. However, she had already gotten the lead she need, and made a bee line for the fence. She took a deep breath and leapt into the air, gracefully clearing the rows of barbed wire. The ranchers' horses, on the other hand, weren't so graceful. They skidded to a stop, throwing two of the ranchers onto the horses' necks, and one of them clear out of the saddle and straight into the barbed wire!

Hearing the pursuing hoof beats cease, Cloud stopped and looked behind her. She let out a shrill whinny of laughter at what she saw. "It serves you right!" she snorted at them. She reared up and took off again, heading straight for the Lakota village.


	3. Acquaintances Established

**Sorry I haven't added any forewords before. I just figured out how to make the page breaks . Anyway, I hope you've been enjoying this fanfiction so far, and I thank all that have made reviews! .**

**Disclaimer (better late than never) : I don't own Spirit, or any of the charaters. Even Cloud is based off of the baby the real horses that modeled for Rain and Spirit had. The only character I truely made up is Hawk.**

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Cloud continued to run throughout the day and into the night. Although she tried to keep up her speed, she found herself slowing down little by little until finally she was moving at a slow jog. She had never run so long before, and she hadn't built up the stamina that her parents possessed when they made the journey. 

_I didn't realize this place was so far,_ Cloud thought to herself as she slowly made her way in the dark, using the river at her side as a guide. _But I have to keep going or I'll never make it in time! _She pushed herself up into a lope and continued on. Her stomach growled loudly and her feet ached, and eventually she had to stop all together. _Maybe I can just rest for a minute_, she compromised, laying down in the grass beside the river. But as soon as she lay her head down on the ground, she fell fast asleep.

* * *

A loud howl resonated through the hills in the early, morning light, spooking birds from their perches in the trees. A young man, a Lakota, ran to the top of a nearby hill, surveying the land around him. He spotted what he was looking for: a yearling, bay appaloosa colt who was resting comfortably by the river on the opposite side of the village. He let out his call again, but when there was no response he began to yell instead. 

"Hawk!" he called, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice carry farther. "Hawk!!"

"Are you still looking for that colt, Little Creek?"

Little Creek turned and found two of his friends trudging up the hill to meet him. "Yes, I am," he admitted. "I knew I shouldn't have let him out so soon. It's just that Rain would come when I called her since she was weaned."

"Hawk isn't Rain," his friend reminded him, giving him a pat on his shoulder.

"Yes, he requires more patients," the other added with a nod. "but eventually you two will bond. You will see."

Little Creek nodded with a sigh, watching Hawk drink from the river in the distance. "Would you two mind helping me catch him?" he spoke finally, glancing back at them.

His friends looked at each other, them back at him with a smile. "Sure. Just let us fetch our horses and some rope."

* * *

Hawk raised his head and watched Little Creek make his way back down the hill to the village. He smirked and shook his head. _I'm not going to let them catch me again,_ he thought. _It's no fun back there. _He turned, glancing back at the village one last time before taking off at a full gallop along the river bank. He didn't get too far, however, for something caught his attention. He skidded to a stop as he noticed a horse laying in the grass beside the bank. No, it wasn't a full-grown horse. It was a yearling like him. He approached cautiously, his ears pricked forward attentively, and his nostrils flared. He timidly nudged her, seeing if she would wake up. 

Cloud stirred, then yawned and slowly opened her eyes. When she found another pair of big, brown eyes staring back at her, she started and immediately jumped to her feet with a yelp of surprise.

Hawk leapt back also, her having surprised him as much as he had surprised her. "Who are you?" he nickered demandingly. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"Who are you?" Cloud echoed him, looking him over. A strange, blue marking on his shoulder caught her attention. It was a print she had never seen before, and figured it must be a human hand print.

"What are you looking at?" Hawk asked as she merely stared at him. He looked over his own body to see what could be holding her attention.

"Do you live with humans?" she asked him, cutting right to the chase. "Do you know a man named Little Creek?"

"Yes…" he replied slowly with a raised eyebrow, not quite getting her point. "Why do you want to see him for?"

"Please, it's an emergency. You have to show me the way!" Cloud began to prance in place, urging him to lead the way.

"Ok, I'll show you where he is," Hawk agreed. "but you have to tell me you're name first."

"It's Cloud," she said, nodding her head as a greeting.

"Mine's Hawk," he shook his jet black mane and held his head up proudly. "Ok, come on. It's this way." He wheeled around and galloped back to the village, Cloud following right behind him. "So, where's your human anyway?" he whinnied with curiosity.

"I don't have one," she replied. "I'm a mustang."

"Whoa…" Hawk looked her over with admiration. "I've always wanted to be one of those."

In no time, the village became visible and they headed towards it. But to their surprise, a couple of men on horseback where already waiting for them. As they ran past the first tepees, the men let their lassoes fly and easily caught both of them.

Cloud struggled fiercely against them, but Hawk just stood there with a heavy sigh. "I should have known I was going to get caught if I came back here," he said, lowering his head.

"Are they going to hurt me?" Cloud cried out, still fighting to get free as the men dismounted their horses.

Hawk shook his head. "Nah, they won't hurt you. You don't have to worry about anything like that."

"Little Creek, I caught him," one of the men called out, grinning with his success. "and it looks like he found a friend."

Cloud instantly stopped struggling as she recognized the name the man had spoken, and wheeled around just in time to see Little Creek walking towards them.

Little Creek froze also, something about this yearling striking him. He recognized the spirit in this new filly's eyes, the spirit of the Mustang.

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**I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I tried to make it longer than the previous ones. Also, if you'd like to see a picture I drew of Cloud and Hawk, copy the link posted below (without spaces). The colors got a little faded when I scanned it, but you can still see the horses. **

ht tp // i16 . tinypic . com / 534 w071 . jpg


	4. Follow the Leader

**Wow.. I don't even remember the last time I updated this fanfic! Sorry for the wait! I got some writers block and it took me a couple years to get over it xP I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Hopefully there will be many more to come!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Spirit or any of the characters. Only Hawk.  
**

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"_I couldn't believe it! There was Little Creek, standing before me. I must say that he looked a lot different than I had imagined. Of course, I hadn't seen a human before yesterday, so my imaginings were far from accurate. Now all I had to do was lead him back to the herd and he would set them free again!"_

"This is a mustang filly," Little Creek said, slowly stepping up closer to get a better look at her. "I'd know that look in her eyes anywhere."

Cloud didn't move as he approached her, but gazed up into his face. She took a deep breath and began her story. "Please, Little Creek, you have to help me! First, there were these strange logs strung across our grazing grounds, then these humans came and chased the herd away! And you're the only one who can help me get them back!"

"What are you doing?" Hawk asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "He can't understand a word you just said. You're wasting your breath."

"She's sure a talkative one," his friend laughed, tightening his grip on her rope. "What do you want me to do with her?"

"Just let her go," Little Creek replied, looking over at him. "I had my fun trying to tame a mustang before. Their spirits are meant to be free, not locked in a pen."

"I wish he'd use that excuse with me," Hawk snorted with a swish of his tail.

His friend nodded and slipped the lasso off over Cloud's head. However, she still didn't move. _There has to be a way to tell him,_ she thought. _There has to be some way to let him know I want him to follow me back._

"Go on, go!" exclaimed Little Creek, trying to shoo her away. To his surprise, the filly didn't run away, but leapt forward at him, trotting around behind him, then nudging him forward with her head. "What are you doing?" he asked, wheeling around and placing his hands on her forehead to keep her from nudging him.

"You have to come with me," she whinnied stubbornly, pushing against his hands somewhat like a billy goat might do.

Little Creek stepped to the side and let go of her head, causing her to stumble past him.

Cloud snorted and turned to face him again. She didn't realize that trying to communicate would be so hard. "Hawk, what should I do?" she asked, looking back at him. "How do I make him understand?"

"I don't know," Hawk replied, looking from her to Little Creek. "Alright, let me try." He whinnied to his owner, tossing his head and pulling on his rope.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you free again." Little Creek walked over and took a hold of his rope. "You'll take off and I'll have to track you down all over again." He stroked Hawk's nose, trying to quiet him down.

Cloud's ears twitched forward as Little Creek spoke. "_That was it! It finally occurred to me what I had to do. Little Creek wouldn't follow me, but he would follow Hawk!" _

Cloud suddenly lunged forward again. Little Creek instinctively leapt aside out of her way as she ran forward and snatched Hawk's rope from his hand. Hawk was practically jerked off his feet as she took off at a gallop, towing him behind her.

"Hey… hey wait!" Little Creek called after her, shocked that a wild mustang would do something so bold. "Filly, come back!"

Cloud slowed to an extended trot, glancing behind her to see the Lakota's reaction. When she saw his intent to follow, she took off again, heading back towards her homeland. Hawk, who had by now realized her motives, trailed behind her willingly.

Little Creek glanced around frantically, trying to think of a way to pursue his horse without a mount of his own. "I need to borrow your horse," he told one of his friends. Without giving him a chance to reply, Little Creek ran to a nearby teepee and mounted a grey horse with a blue circle painted around its right eye. "Come on, Keen Eye, let's go!" he exclaimed, giving him a light kick with his heels. The horse willingly responded, turning and taking off in pursuit of the two yearlings.

"Little Creek!" his friend cried, running after him. After a few strides, he stopped and watched his friend shrink smaller and smaller as he ran off with his horse. "When I said he could borrow my horse anytime, this isn't what I had in mind." He sighed and shook his head.

"_Part one of my mission was complete. I had found Little Creek and was successfully getting him to follow me. I was sure I was home free now. As soon as I brought him to my herd, I knew he would set them free and then everything would be alright again. I only hoped my family would be okay until then. I could only imagine what was happening to them while they were being held captive by those humans." _

"Cloud, I'm getting tired," Hawk complained with a sigh, starting to slow down. He glanced back at his human, who was still hot on their trail, slowly gaining on them as they galloped across the plain. "Can't we stop for a minute? I'm sure Little Creek will get us something to eat. He's not that far behind."

"No, we can't stop yet." Cloud gave his rope a couple tugs to get his pace back up with hers. "He'll just catch us and take us back. I need to keep him following us." She looked back over her shoulder. He was definitely getting closer. If they could only stay ahead of him until nightfall, then they would be ok. It wasn't safe to travel at night, and she figured the human knew that too.

Eventually Cloud also began to tire and her speed steadily dropped until she had slowed to a jog. She looked up at the sky, which was streaked with oranges and pinks as the sun sunk lower toward the horizon. It was close enough to nightfall, they should be alright. She dropped Hawk's rope to the ground and he readily stopped in his tracks.

"I don't think I can take another step!" He flopped onto the ground and began rolling his tired body in the soft grass. He had never run so much in his life! When he was done, he climbed to his feet and shook the dirt off of his spotted coat. "Where are we anyway?" he asked, looking around at the unfamiliar scenery. He thought he would like finally being out on his own, but he had no idea where he was and it was a bit unnerving. He was actually relieved when Little Creek rode up beside them and slowed Keen Eye to a halt.

"We're almost to my home," Cloud answered Hawk, watching the Lakota carefully as he dismounted. Even though she was exhausted, she readied herself to run if he showed any sign of trying to catch them.

However, Little Creek did no such thing. He had long since figured out that the little mustang yearling was getting him to follow her by using his own horse as bait. These horses never ceased to amaze him. "I suppose it looks like we'll all be camping here for the night." He gave her a gentle smile, then turned and walked off in search of some wood for a fire.

The yearlings watched him walk away, their ears pricked forward and their heads tracking his movement. Suddenly Hawk began to walk off after him.

"Wait a second," Cloud objected, jumping forward and grabbing a hold of his rope again. "You have to stay with me."

"I can follow him if I want. You're not the boss of me," Hawk pinned his ears at her and gave his tail a swish. "I won't let him catch me. I just want to see where he's going." He gave the rope around his neck a yank, jerking it from Cloud's mouth.

The filly snorted and pinned her ears back as well. "Fine. But you better not get caught." She rolled her eyes and began to graze, signaling that he was free to leave her. She watched him leave out of the corner of her eye until he had disappeared behind some brush in search of his human. She turned her attention to Keen Eye to see if he would follow Little Creek as well. However, he remained where he was and lowered his head to graze with her.

A few minutes later, Little Creek returned with an armful of wood and Hawk trailing behind him at a safe distance. He set the wood down and turned to pet his horse, only to have him leap away with a playful whinny. "Well, at least you're following me now," Little Creek thought out loud as he sat down to start a fire.

Cloud lifted her head as the human worked, her body stiffening as the smell of smoke entered her nostrils. Fire was typically a bad thing. Why was he making it on purpose? He didn't even seem worried about it. Cloud began to pace as she fought her instinct to run from the menacing smoke.

Hawk raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing? He's just making a fire."

"Aren't fires dangerous?" The filly jumped as the log sparked and finally caught fire. "Shouldn't we run? Running sounds like a good idea." She began to slowly back away from the campfire.

"You don't have to worry. It's not going to hurt you," Keen Eye nickered comfortingly to her. "Our humans never let the fire get out of control."

Cloud continued to eye the fire wearily, but when Little Creek kept it from spreading like Keen Eye said he would, she began to calm down. In fact, she grew to appreciate its warmth as the sun set and there was a chill in the air. She lay down beside it, opposite of Little Creek, watching him carefully until her eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she found that there was a little pile of apples stacked beside her. She stared at them for a moment, wondering how they had appeared there. She looked around and realized that Hawk and Keen Eye each had a pile too and were already awake and eating. Cloud quickly got to her feet, suddenly realizing how hungry she was, and tentatively sniffed at the apples. They seemed safe enough, and she was too hungry to care. She bit into the first one, then gave a satisfied nickered as she tried another. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hawk approach and she pinned her ears at him. "These are my apples. You already had yours."

"But I'm still hungry," he complained. "I just want one more."

"Don't you – Hey!" she squealed as Hawk quickly snatched one and leaped away. She snapped at him and chased him away from her remaining apples.

He let out a squeal of surprise at how quickly she chased after him, but then pranced around proudly when she retreated back to finish her breakfast, being sure to keep his distance now that he got what he wanted.

Little Creek chuckled at two yearlings as he approached Keen Eye. "I suppose you're going to take off again, filly," he said, mounting the grey horse.

Cloud finished her last apple and looked up at him. It took him long enough to figure it out. She realized she probably didn't need Hawk now that he finally knew what she wanted, but she thought she'd hold onto him just in case. By now he had stopped prancing around, so she grabbed a hold of his rope and took off again.

Little Creek gave his mount a quick kick and they were trailing behind the yearlings.

They didn't travel for too long before they finally came across the barbed wire fence. Cloud heart began to pound as she slowed to a stop. She was so close to home, so close to her family. "My herd is just past this," she nickered to Hawk.

"How are we supposed to get through?" he asked her, sniffing at one of the barbs. He jerked back as it poked his tender nose.

"Jump it, of course," the filly replied. "That's how I did it before." Although, she had to admit it looked a lot taller now that she didn't have a bunch of ranchers chasing her.

In the meantime, Little Creek had dismounted to get a better look for himself. "I'm guessing what you want is on the other side," he said. As he looked up and down the length of the fence, he shook his head. "They've taken over your home, haven't they?"

Cloud gave a small nod. "And took my family," she added softly.

Little Creek looked back at the fence. The wire would be impossible to cut with his knife. If only he had his hand ax. Then he might be able to hack it down.

Cloud turned and trotted off a little ways, still leading Hawk behind her.

"Now what are you doing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Jumping it, like I said," she replied matter-of-factly.

"No, no. I can't jump that! It's too - " He was suddenly jerked forward as Cloud took off. He didn't have time to resist. All he could do is tuck his legs close to his body and jump as high as he possibly could. To his surprise, they both cleared the fence without a scratch and safely landed on the other side. "…high," he finally finished his sentence, his eyes wide with disbelief at what he had just done. "You are the craziest horse I have ever met!" he added with a snort.

The mustang rolled her eyes. "You made it, didn't you?" She looked back at Little Creek, who had remounted Keen Eye. After making sure they both jumped the fence safely, she took off again.

They ran past the meadow and the hill her father would always stand on to keep watch over the herd. They ran past the river where the bison would gather to drink. They kept running until Cloud saw a strange structure in the distance. She slowed to a walk and cautiously approached, hiding behind a rock out-cropping so she could get a better look. She had never seen anything like it. There were more of those strange fences, only these ones were completely made of wood and enclosed a small area filled with horses. Other horses were tied up with ropes at tie-rails. There were a few strange structures in the distance similar to the teepees she had seen at the Lakota village, only these were large and boxier.

Cloud thought she recognized some of the horses in the enclosure. She let out a tentative whinny, seeing if one of them would respond. A very familiar whinny sounded in reply, causing Cloud's heart to skip a beat.

Little Creek also stiffened when he heard the distant horse's response, for he too recognized it. "It can't be…" he whispered quietly. "Is it?" He strained to see the horse as it made its way to the edge of the corral. It was. "Rain..."


End file.
